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Don't overlook some prepared foods. We buy a broiled whole chicken from Costco for $6-7 and usually get 3 meals of it (for 2). Some of their other store-prepared meals, like lasagna, spinach salads, a variety of roll ups, etc., also work out to pretty cheap meals.
Fish, beef, chicken and pork be easily broiled in the oven. There a variety of rubs, marinades and other easy to use methods to varying the flavor.
We probably eat 98% of our meals at home. It's much healthier and way cheaper than eating out.
I keep a few foods in my refrigerator and pantry that require no cooking at all (like cottage cheese, canned meats and fish, and pre-made salad mixes) to cover those frantic evenings when I get home late and really don't want to bother with cooking. Last night's dinner was a pre-coked ham slice, some cottage cheese, and a big home-grown tomato. Cheap, tasty, and the prep time was a whopping five minutes (mostly to slice the tomato up).
I keep a few foods in my refrigerator and pantry that require no cooking at all (like cottage cheese, canned meats and fish, and pre-made salad mixes) to cover those frantic evenings when I get home late and really don't want to bother with cooking. Last night's dinner was a pre-coked ham slice, some cottage cheese, and a big home-grown tomato. Cheap, tasty, and the prep time was a whopping five minutes (mostly to slice the tomato up).
Organization is definitely key!
Cottage cheese is my go to when no cooking is my goal for the meal.
In your situation, which is the same as mine, except I like the creative aspect of cooking, I would buy the salad kits, frozen cook in the bag vegetables, and whatever meat or fish you feel like that day. If you want potato, you can bake some in the oven or microwave, or buy some premade mashed. They are pretty good.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ylisa7
Like others have said, make an extra amount of food when you cook and freeze the leftovers for future easy meals. Casseroles, lasagna, soup, stew, stuffed peppers, stuffed cabbage, and pot roast work well.
Rotisserie chickens are also great for helping you make a good meal. ... A crockpot can also be a time saver and very easy. ... Place back in crockpot with BBQ sauce and heat through. Individual containers can also be frozen.
Have breakfast for dinner. Eggs and omelettes are a great way to use leftover fresh vegetables. French toast and pancakes are easy. And of course soup and sandwiches are always an option.
Grilled foods are also super easy.
...
I also love Taste of Home and Allrecipes for my recipes.
Very good / simple advice ^^^
Quote:
Originally Posted by GoodHombre
I'm not trying to be extremely frugal, but I'm trying to cook more to avoid eating out too often which adds up the expensive. I figured that even if I buy good ingredients(fresh veggies, quality beef cut, seafood), it's still much cheaper than eating out.
I don't enjoy cooking at all, I hate doing grocery and cleaning the kitchen.
How do you who live frugally make your own food on a regular basis? Any good cookbook or recipe website to recommend? I know there are a ton, but they are not easy to follow.
Thanks
Eat more Fresh stuff (little / no preparation)
Set a very strict budget (ours is $100 / month into an envelope on the first of the month. "Food and Entertainment"), When the envelope runs dry... go without, or get creative.
go on a restaurant diet.. (don't go out to eat.. !!!)
Cook for 'shut-ins', always a good lesson / reality check... to help someone more needy than yourself.
Treat yourself on your savings! (once every few months). Take a homeless or a shut-in person with you.
Work in a soup kitchen each week. (you usually get fed, if there is anything left over. ).
In your situation, which is the same as mine, except I like the creative aspect of cooking, I would buy the salad kits, frozen cook in the bag vegetables, and whatever meat or fish you feel like that day. If you want potato, you can bake some in the oven or microwave, or buy some premade mashed. They are pretty good.
I'm not trying to be extremely frugal, but I'm trying to cook more to avoid eating out too often which adds up the expensive. I figured that even if I buy good ingredients(fresh veggies, quality beef cut, seafood), it's still much cheaper than eating out.
I don't enjoy cooking at all, I hate doing grocery and cleaning the kitchen.
How do you who live frugally make your own food on a regular basis? Any good cookbook or recipe website to recommend? I know there are a ton, but they are not easy to follow.
Thanks
If you like vegetables, you can just microwave a bowl full of whatever you like, eat from bowl, put all in dishwasher when you are done. Even more "real" cooking, you can cook up as noted more than one serving, eat part of it and put in fridge or freezer for later in the week. Frozen veggies are your friend, they don't go bad, you just open the bag and take out what you want, put the rest back, lasts for months without deterioration.
I strongly favor pots and pans that go in the dishwasher.
Avoid making a mess and you have less to clean.
Sometimes "dinner from a can" can be improved by adding some ingredients of your own. Brown some hamburger in a pan, drain if necessary, then add canned chili - with or without beans as you prefer. Much better than plain canned chili, but not much more work.
Grocery stores do have some ready to eat foods - for example boiled shrimp - season to taste, serve yourself. Whole roasted chickens tend to be a loss leader, usually you get a good price on them, fair amount of chow for like $5.
You can take that last up a notch in convenience and price by getting RTE foods from the deli, still cheaper than eating out.
Start simple, maybe Google topics like "Cooking for one". Teach yourself.
put what you're doing in the perspective that preparing your own meals from quality ingredients gives you and your wife better control over your health and budget than going out to eat.
if you'll make that paradigm shift in how you regard the necessity of eating, you can turn the process (selecting items to cook, shopping, cooking … and dining) into a pleasurable experience.
Consider various cuisines as a new experience to be savored and enjoyed. Bear in mind that you can create and enjoy at home most of the dishes that you now get at restaurants … but now you can control the ingredients and final results to your taste. You can eliminate a lot of the "stuff" that goes into commercial food prep, especially some of the items which are targeted to commercial convenience and food preservation rather than your healthy dietary intake.
Perhaps less fat, sugar, sodium, preservatives in your diet would be beneficial to your long term health? How about lowering your intake of additives such as MSG?
While there's a million cookbooks to be had, you may find that starting with a very basic … yet adventuresome … monthly magazine gives you a lot of insight into the gastronomic adventures ahead.
IMO, one of the best is "Cook's", where the contributors go into some detail regarding the background of the item to be prepared and how they arrived at the simplest/best technique to create and cook the item. Their directions are exceptionally clear as to the tools, methods, food prep, cooking times/temperatures, and so forth. Additionally, they support the written articles/recipes with on-line video's of the food prep which you may access as a magazine subscriber. On top of that, they periodically issue a targeted recipe magazine … featuring a given cuisine; could be Asian, or BBQ, or another regional/national type cuisine.
Alas, cleaning up after the food prep/cooking/dining is one of those chores that must be done as part of the process. You can select the menus, foods, and tools that minimize that work. Non-stick cookware, good quality cutlery and cutting boards, and using food prep techniques such as slow cookers, oven casseroles, a pressure cooker, or grills can help minimize the chores. A BBQ can be a big enhancement to your cooking adventures … and it doesn't have to be a big elaborate one (even a small hibachi can cook a whole chicken's worth of parts with minimal charcoal consumptions but big flavor results and minimal clean-up), or perhaps the convenience of a propane fired BBQ will work for you.
Good luck with your cooking adventures ahead.
Where you'll start to see immediate savings from your food planning and cooking adventures is in buying in bulk the foods you like on special. Buy quantities of what you like that can be kept/stored for up to 6 months. Buy only the basic ingredients, do not buy "convenience" foods that have been prepared for you.
You don't need to spend big bucks on high end kitchen knives, especially not the "sets" that are offered. Start with a good quality 3-4" paring knife and a 7" chef's knife
from a manufacturer such as Frederick Dick (F Dick) … these are the knives you'll see used professionally at many meat counters. Don't forget to get a honing steel with your knives and use it several times per week (just a couple of light strokes is all it takes) … you'll find that truly sharp knives are a pleasure to use and make the food prep much easier. In time, you may find that a few more specialty knives will be useful and enjoyable to have, but again … buy the individual knife that fits your hand and meets your needs/wants.
PS: you'll not find a microwave in my kitchen, nor Teflon based non-stick. I'd rather use well seasoned cast iron on the stovetop or in the oven, or enamelware.
Do you avoid microwave and Teflon just because you are old school, or do you think (particularly the Teflon) there may be health risks in these?
On the knives - Rada knives available mail order direct or from Lehman's - very cost effective good knives. Also Old Hickory carbon steel knives, you need to clean these up after use as they will rust. Not unusual to find Old Hickory knives used at Goodwill and such. Victorinox, the Swiss Army Knife people, have good kitchen knives, at a good price. No good knife ever goes in the dishwasher. Learn how to use a steel, it's not that hard to do. Don't let your knives get dull. Needless to say, the knife "sharpener" on electric can openers is no good, don't even try it.
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